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Author

Parthemore, Christine Leigh.

Description

Thesis (M.A.)--Georgetown University, 2010.; Includes bibliographical
references.; Text (Electronic thesis) in PDF format. Given China's recent embargo of exports
of rare earth minerals, concern for U.S. vulnerability to supply disruptions for
defense-critical minerals is growing. In this study, I test my hypothesis that in practice a
combination of economic, geographic, and political factors is usually necessary for minerals
supply disruptions to affect the U.S. defense industrial base. In order to answer this
question, I compare cases of four minerals - gallium, rhenium, tantalum, niobium - and rare
earth elements, focusing from 2005 to the present. Each of these is identified in the 2008
National Academies of Science report, "Managing Materials for a Twenty-First Century
Military," as critical to military assets that will grow in importance in future
warfare. Among these cases, I will compare the potential causes of supply disruptions in order
to determine what factors are most important in signaling vulnerability. This initial study
appears to confirm the importance of creating a suite of policy prescriptions that address a
range of potential vulnerabilities. The next logical steps in building on this work include
examining minerals exported from the Democratic Republic of Congo (such as coltan) and
lithium, given growing concerns for the vulnerability of supplies from
Bolivia.

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